College World Series coaches fondly remember Augie Garrido

After 20 seasons at UT, Augie Garrido could be heading into his final games. Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

After 20 seasons at UT, Augie Garrido could be heading into his final games. Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

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After 20 seasons at UT, Augie Garrido could be heading into his final games. Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

After 20 seasons at UT, Augie Garrido could be heading into his final games. Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

Photo: Edward A. Ornelas, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

College World Series coaches fondly remember Augie Garrido

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OMAHA, Neb. – Augie Garrido always seemed to have some sort of grandfatherly wisdom to impart on anyone looking to engage in conversation. And when the five-time national champion and former winningest baseball coach in NCAA history spoke, the only proper move was to sit and absorb.

That's how Texas Tech coach Tim Tadlock remembered the late Garrido, who died on March 15 three days after suffering a stroke. He was 79.

"Probably the thing that comes to mind more than anything is just the conversations you have with Augie before series or during the series," Tadlock said Friday at TD Ameritrade Park. "He was always very much like a grandfather, I think, to all of us.

"He's just a special guy. But I think really probably the neatest thing in that deal was just the one-on-one conversations you had with him. I mean, we were all at baseball games throughout every summer, and every time you would be at one, you're trying to find the next guy."

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn fondly recalled his first face-to-face with Garrido. The meeting occurred back in 1998 when he was coaching at Nebraska, at the time a member of the Big 12.

"It was in Nebraska, my first year there, we still played at Buck Beltzer Stadium," Van Horn said. "And we had worked out I think on a Thursday, early, and it was kind of cold.

"And then I kind of stayed around and when Texas got there and tried to spy on him a little bit, watch him practice. In the middle of their practice I decided, you know, go on out and say hi to him, and he was in left field. And we had a really good conversation.

"Because, I'll be honest with you, that first year at Nebraska some of the coaches in the league, they weren't real friendly with us. We didn't know what we were doing. But he just said that we were doing a good job and that he watched us practice a little bit and he knew we were going to be good by the way we practiced, and I told him I appreciated it."

Washington coach Lindsay Meggs didn't have an extensive history with Garrido, but the two had discussed Garrido coming out to the program's preseason dinner in February. Meggs wanted Garrido to address his team and try to convey some of the knowledge he stored inside that one-of-a-kind mind.

"I spoke to Coach Garrido in January," Meggs said. "Tried to get him lined up to speak at our First Pitch dinner, and he was so great about his schedule.

"Every time you're trying to line something like that up, there is typically a fee for a speaker and there's typically travel issues and I've got to have this at a hotel, I've got to have this type of flight. And he said, 'All I need from you is a guarantee that your guys are going to listen and have a chance to make a difference and I can affect the people in the audience.' And I think that's what's so great about Coach."

"I didn't know him well. We had met – I think he indulged me more than anything because I wanted to pick his brain at times. But I was and I am still impressed by not just his coaching tree, but the type of game that everybody plays, whether they played for him or not or coached with him, it's all over college baseball, the style of baseball that he coached."

Garrido is gone, but he's remained a huge part of this year's College World Series. He was a staple in Omaha for years, having had team qualify in 15 different seasons, and all the lessons he passed on remain a tribute to all he was and still is.

"At the end of each summer, a lot of us end up in Long Beach," Tadlock said. "And what reminds me about Augie more than anything is he was right there in the background. I think he's still right there in the background right now watching all of us."